Police Say Arrests Shut Down 2 Major Crack Cocaine Rings

March 22, 1989|By SALLIE JAMES, Staff Writer

Police on Tuesday said they smashed two of the largest crack cocaine distribution rings in Broward County with the arrests of 15 ``middlemen`` who funneled cocaine to northern Florida and the southeastern United States.

A 15-month investigation revealed that two Fort Lauderdale-based groups were shipping crack -- often concealed in the tires of $200,000 race cars -- as far west as Texas and north to South Carolina, said investigators from Fort Lauderdale, Plantation, the Sheriff`s Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

``These two organizations, after today, we believe cease to exist,`` said Lonnie Cooper of the FDLE. ``All the major players in these two organizations have either been arrested and charged, or significant seizure made on them.``

One group operated out of a Fort Lauderdale auto repair shop, Cooper said. The other was headed by a Lauderhill race-car enthusiast who used his own cars to move the drugs, he said.

``These are not a loosely knit group of individuals. These are established, well-organized enterprises that have in the past four years developed a lot of systems and networks,`` Cooper said.

The suspects shared a link to the automotive industry and the Plantation firm of Othel Turner & Co. Accountants, investigators said.

``They used Turner`s firm as a means to hide (and) cleanse any of the assets they have derived from their organizations over almost three or four years,`` Cooper said.

Police on Tuesday seized canceled checks and financial statements from the firm, including accounts from 41 businesses. Turner, who has not been charged, could not be located for comment, and his employees declined to comment.

Among those arrested during the investigation are:

-- Anthony and Beverly Kelly of Parkland, owners of A&B Automotive, at 611 NW Fourth Ave., in Fort Lauderdale. Both were charged with trafficking in cocaine and conspiracy to traffic. Police say cocaine was packed into the tires of race cars at their auto repair shop and shipped to locations in and out of state. In February, when the Kellys were arrested, a Fort Lauderdale police spokesman described them as the principal operators of a cocaine operation that, by conservative estimates, grossed about $36 million a year.

-- Able Cole-Dominguez, of Hallandale, a suspected importer of powdered cocaine who is accused of funneling the drug to the two organizations. He was charged with conspiracy to traffic cocaine and trafficking in cocaine.

-- Otis ``Billy`` Palmer, of Lauderhill, a race-car enthusiast who police said used his own cars to smuggle drugs out of state. Palmer, who was charged with racketeering and racketeering conspiracy, was linked to several corporations that list Othel Turner as their registered agent, Cooper said.

During one raid, police seized 18 kilograms of cocaine at a Boynton Beach ``stash house,`` used for storing powdered cocaine and converting it into crack. A day later, authorities seized 9 kilograms of cocaine in Deerfield Beach, investigators said.

To conceal their investigation, police said they often allowed other agencies to make arrests for them.

Police dubbed the investigation ``Operation Brickhouse`` because of the problems they encountered identifying and tracing the suspected ring members.